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Ex-presidents Flee the Country for Halloween

Somewhere deep in former Communist Eastern Europe, an 11-foot, one-ton gold statue of President Bill Clinton was unveiled last weekend. On Sunday, Bubba traveled to Pristina, Kosovo’s capital city, where he was met with crowds and cheers. Clinton has been hailed by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians for dropping bombs on the Serb forces in an attempt to crack down on the Albanian independence movement. And we must say, Bubba really does look dashing all in gold.

On Monday, Clinton journeyed on to Istanbul, where he discussed presidential term limits, saying he would have stayed in the White House "until I was carried away in a coffin." We're happy that didn't have to happen.Clinton isn’t the only ex-president jet-setting around the world. George W. Bush traveled to Mumbai, where terrorist attacks rocked the city almost one year ago. During W's visit, he took the time to meet with several employees of the Taj Mahal Hotel, which was a target of the attacks. No word yet if Indians are interested in hearing Bush’s motivational speeches.

While this column generally covers only American ex-presidents, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Halloween powwow of several international ex-heads of state who gathered to pat each other on the back for the dismantlement of the Berlin Wall nearly 20 years ago. President George H. W. Bush, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and former German chancellor Helmut Kohl met in Berlin to reminisce about their time together, and possibly don lederhosen for Halloween.

Finally, not to be left out, Jimmy Carter was in Istanbul on Halloween for a meeting of the "elders," a group of international leaders organized by Nelson Mandela to underscore their anxiety over global warming. Some of the elders toted their grandchildren along, including Carter, who brought Hugo Wentzel, 10, and Jeremy Carter, 22.